First sausage

[Roget]

My first batch ever.

I used an 8 lb. 2 oz. butt & ended up with 7 lbs. 6 oz. of finished product.
Seasoned  with 2 different Walton's fresh breakfast sausage seasonings. (two different batches)
Stuffed about 4.5 lbs. into collagen casings.




Formed the balance into patties.

I fried a test pattie of each batch & they both taste good.

I have a couple of concerns.
I can't get the links to stay twisted. I twist alternately as instructed but they come untwisted.
After they have been twisted, can I cut the links apart, or will the ends come loose & spill out?

My biggest concern is that I had a couple of blowouts. Am I overstuffing?
I did get more product into the casing than the package estimated, but they didn't look to be overstuffed.(V thought they looked overstuffed.)
They were pretty firm & when I twisted them they got more so.
Should I let the sausage stretch the casing as I stuff, or just fill the casing without stretching it?
This is something I definitely need to figure out before I try to smoke sausage. I certainly don't want to have it blowout in the smokehouse.  :( >:( :(

Any advice on this will certainly be appreciated.
Thanx in advance.

[watchdog56]

Usually when I stuff I put little pressure on the casing unless I am stuffing summer sausage style. When I do sticks and bratwurst style I put little pressure on them. I have had blow outs which is usually caused by over stuffing. That may be the reason for the ends to come loose. When I make mine I twist every other way.  When I make sticks I cute with a scissors the length of a rack and let the meat be one. They do not ooze out.

[Johnny]

Roget, collagen casings can be tricky for even an experienced sausage maker to work with. What I have seen is most butchers who use them simply cut them with scissors. As Watchdog56 mentioned the meat will not come out of the casings in the smoker. When I do sticks using collagen i make the lengths about 24" long, after stuffing I fold in half to hang over 1/2" dowels and usually pinch the ends on the bottoms. For fresh sausage I use natural casings because of there ease to link! Have a look at some YouTube clips on linking sausage and with practice you will get there in no time 😉